Canadians were and remain horrified at the revelation of a mass unmarked grave containing the remains of 215 children on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops. The sheer volume of children buried without documentation is appalling. We have learned of the horrors of the residential school system for decades as survivors have been coming forward, but this is somehow different. This discovery has truly driven home just how terribly our First Nation citizens and their children were treated by the federal government and the religious organizations during a dark chapter of Canada’s history..People are asking how this was allowed to happen for so long in a nation that fancies itself modern and progressive. How did this occur for decades while non-indigenous citizens turned a blind eye to it? Why didn’t more people speak up while this was happening? Why did it take this long to expose what actually had happened in these institutions?.The bottom line is that the majority of Canadians were squeamish with these uncomfortable realities and they simply didn’t want to dwell on it. People put blind trust in the state to investigate and deal with these issues. They comforted themselves in the belief the church and government had the best interest of Indigenous people’s in mind, despite evidence of abuse and neglect that had been mounting for decades..Cold hard reality has now slapped Canadians hard enough on the face to end denial of what has happened. Evidence of abuse and deaths in these schools is not anecdotal or fabricated. It was clearly widespread and Canadians are now forced to accept that and come to terms with the reality of what has happened. While most of the victims directly impacted by the residential school system have passed on, many survivors still live today and many of their descendants are still suffering from the damage inflicted. We can’t undo the damage done, but we can work to make reparations where appropriate and ensure that we never repeat anything like it again..Before letting Canadians sink back down into their comfortable ignorance with the state of First Nations again, we should use this level of discomfort to examine today’s treatment of indigenous Canadians..By all measures, the reservation system is an unmitigated catastrophe. While people like to point to small, localized cases of success on reserves, those are rare exceptions. Most reserves are enclaves of socioeconomic misery, and there is no hope for improvement so long as the reserve system continues. No level of financial support will fix a system that is broken at its foundational roots. First Nations citizens on reserves suffer from lower life expectancies, incomes, educational levels, healthiness, and happiness. Suicides on reserves are rampant and crime levels are among the highest in the nation and climbing. How many more decades – or centuries – will we let this continue? How bad will it have to get before we finally come to the hard reality that the system has failed and must be replaced?.The reserve system is governed by an archaic, racist document called the Indian Act. While the act has been amended over the years, it still remains at its core, a system created to separate and divide races. It embodies systemic racism in the most literal way, yet politicians tremble in terror at the mere prospect of criticizing it, much less repealing it. If ever there was a time for us to be bold about reform to our relationship with First Nations, now is it..In looking back, we are mystified and asking ourselves, “How could people have possibly thought that it was acceptable to forcibly take children from their families and house them in these schools?”.If we don’t change things soon, another generation will surely look back on us with just as much confusion as they ask, “How could people have possibly thought that it was acceptable to racially segregate entire segments of the population on isolated, destitute reserves?”..People ignored all the warning signs with the residential schools with tragic outcome. We are getting all the warning signs with the reserve system, yet we do nothing. Do we want to repeat a historical episode of willful ignorance on a tough issue again?.Race-based policy is always wrong. Race-based policy created the residential school system, and it is a cornerstone of the reserve system. We can’t fix the damage caused by race-based policy with the application of more race-based policy. We must eliminate it, beginning with the repeal of the Indian Act..There are many lawyers and bureaucrats who make very healthy livings within the current system. They will fight to protect the status quo with all they have. We need to stand up to them and stand up for the indigenous people living in terrible conditions on and off of reserves, thanks to the Indian Act. It won’t be easy and it won’t happen fast, but it has to be done. The first step is to face uncomfortable realities rather than hiding from them..Unless we learn from our errors, we are doomed to repeat them..Cory Morgan is the Alberta Political Columnist for the Western Standard and the Host of the Cory Morgan Show
